MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer

"DODGE!!!" Jack cried out as the assault began.

Dark tentacles slammed at them, cleaving a Centaur to pieces. This thing was STRONG! The enemy remained on the statue's head, akin to an evil turret of doom.

But that wasn't all. The regular Ephials were about to swarm inside the cathedral. If this happened, they wouldn't have any room to dodge at all!

"Block the entrance! Make it collapse!" Jack screamed toward his troops.

They all heard, but so did the creature. It seemed to viciously smile as it began hammering the pathway leading to the entrance.

Jack glanced at it all, gulping. There were small windows to the assault that they could exploit, but they were so short! He alone wouldn't have the speed for it, far from it.

He'd have to guide a Centaur into—

"No." The Chief put his hooves down. "I refuse to believe this ….thing is all that powerful! Eternal Galloping Father, please come to our aid!"

His prayer was so loud that it echoed in the cathedral akin to thousand chimes. He was barely done that…

~Pfttt HaHaHaHaHaHaHa!

The mass of darkness suddenly began laughing at the Centaur's stupidity. What good would praying do now? That weak god couldn't even protect its own temple!

— WHOOSH! —

Just as the creature was laughing, a powerful gust of wind appeared from the statue, spreading to every corner of the cathedral. As it passed them, it carried…freedom?!

It finally settled near the entrance, the wind creating a physical chaotic wind barrier. It happened just in time as Ephials were storming in.

Rectification, Ephial remains stormed in!!! They had been instantly shredded! The creature turned speechless while the Chief's hearty laugh echoed in the area.

"Our God isn't so weak as to be defiled by something as puny as you that can't even take shape!"

Except that this "puny" thing was now enraged.

Countless tentacles sprouted out of the dark ball as if hundreds of barbed whips. Those were made to inflict the highest suffering on their victims.

~ Tch — Last remnants of a soon-to-be-forgotten god! All will perish!

Thus the assault resumed.

— Slap! Slam! Bang! —

Jack sat on the Chief, the main target of the assault, as he banged his sides to instruct him on where to dodge, as one would a horse.

"Gallop clockwise, evasion maneuver number 3!" Jack instructed, his eyes busy observing the cathedral. That's when he noticed it!

Everyone thought all that had happened was a windwall to block the entrance, but that wasn't it! Glyphs had appeared on the walls, tiny and flickering weakly but present.

The wind god had been waiting for them to face the enemy, conserving its power for this final battle— and they were the champions it had chosen!

Now they just had to figure out how to activate the glyphs.

This was more of a tribal magic, which didn't necessarily follow the regular magical rules. What could power this?

Jack couldn't appear calmer as he kept racking his brain, while deadly attacks barely missed the two of them.

But just as the Chief dodged, he just happened to stand near a glyph on the wall. Wait… had it just lit up slightly?!

Did that mean the Centaurs could activate the glyphs? No, others were near the walls, yet the glyphs remained lifeless.

Ah! Was it because of the prayer?! Perhaps the courage he had shown or something? Whatever it was, Jack had to reproduce this somehow.

"Men, heed my call! It's time for some training! We'll fight until we win or die!" Jack bellowed.

Training?! Fight to death?! What kind of madness was this?! Now wasn't the time to train or fight: even surviving was hard, much less defeat that impossibly strong enemy!

Every time they tried to charge at it, they'd have to dodge a tentacle menacing to smash them to a pulp. As for throwing spears…that was even less useful!

The few remaining players instantly complained.

"B-boss, we're barely surviving here—"

"M-maybe we can run?"

"What if—"

But a second later, it became even worse. They turned pale as they received messages from their dead friends: "This thing corrupts items on death…$$$ loss over 9000!!!!"

Oh god! Dying was one thing, but losing the stuff they had worked hard for? No way! They'd rather die to the minions, only losing a few items!

"Fuck that shit. I'm out!" A player cried out as he threw himself toward the wind wall, passing straight through, his laughter resounding on the other side.

"That works?!" A few exclaimed as they followed his example.

Only a dozen Centaurs and a lone player, an earth mage, remained. He had been raining earth bullets at the enemy without much success.

"You're staying? You'll probably die." Jack remarked.

"Pfft— What's the point of living in fear? So what if I lose all my items? As long as I have earth, I'll be fine." He chuckled.

"Cocky….but I like it." Jack couldn't help but grin before turning to the Centaurs. "Let's begin!"

He didn't explain himself, but he didn't have to. If the human said it was time for some training, then it was time for some training!

They all disregarded the OP boss before them at this moment as they followed Jack's instructions.

"Number 11: Jump like you mean it!"

"Number 7: half a step behind."

"Number 9: Shake that ass!"

It was incredibly foolish. All the boss had to do to kill them was listen to the instructions and target where they'd be. But instants later, it realized it wouldn't be that easy.

~ How?! Why aren't you dying!!!

From time to time, they would completely ignore Jack's instructions or even go against them completely. Of course, Jack had countermeasures against intelligent enemies!

His intonations and the specific words he used sometimes had entirely different meanings than what he seemed to be saying.

Jack kept ordering, leading his troops to dodge the enemy's assault. But even then, they were only expending their energy, not making any actual progress damage-wise.

~ Useless! All useless! You puny things can't do a thing!

Hearing the creature complain, Jack sighed before giving a new order. "Guys, it seems we bored our guest. How about singing for it?"

The troops all began "singing" prayers a second later, much like the Chief had done before. Jack stood atop the Centaur, guiding the others akin to an orchestra conductor.

"Yes, yes, just like that!"

"♪♪ Oh great Eternal Galloping Father, please come to our aid! ♪♪" (X13)

They were so damn bad at singing that it was quite literally torture. Blood kept flowing, but the poor evil creature in the middle couldn't seem to finish them off.

It was all because of that one hateful human and chief combo!

One had prayed to his god for the wind barrier, and the other was the shot-caller. He knew he couldn't win. He was clearly just doing everything possible to annoy it!

~ Wretched thing, you'll die a horrible death!

Jack replied to the creature's anger with a huge smile.

The song was working, the creature not realizing how the prayers made the glyphs glow slightly. Perhaps it couldn't see them in the first place?

Seeing the hateful human's smile, the creature finally had enough. It gathered its strength, resolved to use a finishing move. So what if it would affect its growth slightly?

~ DIE!!!!

But just as it finally went all-in, so did Jack.

"All of you, follow my orders!" He directed them all toward the tiny glyphs on the wall. "Now, pray like you've never prayed. Drive all your courage and anger toward the glyphs!"

They jumped in surprise as they saw the glyphs for the first time. Had those been there all this time?! Just surviving had taken all their attention after all!

The dark creature in the middle gathered incredible energy at an unbelievable rate, unleashing it all in one go! A dark wave exploded outward, soon reaching the Centaurs.

This power was so dreadful and corrupting! It would turn them into Ephials for sure, reducing them to nothing but drones.

They kept their eyes open, staring death in the face. But just as they were convinced they were goners, a green light film suddenly surrounded them.

"Ah?! What's that?!" They exclaimed, shocked.

"Our god. That's our god." The Chief explained, overwhelmed with emotion.

The glyphs began glowing brighter and brighter until the dark cathedral suddenly turned into a noble green world. Then it all merged together, forming an array!

The formation surrounded the dark creature in the middle, akin to a prison.

~ NOOOO!!!

The thing slammed its tentacles and its body against it, but it simply couldn't do anything about it! It was utterly stuck! It was over for it…

"This is what you get for underestimating a god." In its despair, it heard a gloating human voice.

~ It's all your fault! All your faultttt!!!

"Hehe, I barely did anything, really." The humbler Jack acted, and the more pissed the creature became. But so what? It was already doomed.

With one last green flash, the creature was smitten by godly power, a dark portal appearing to banish it back to the realm it came from.

It was over.

Jack turned toward his troops.

"There we go, all done!" He made a victory sign.

They were overwhelmed with disbelief and happiness. They had managed to protect their world?! But suddenly, their expressions changed.

"DODGE!!!!" They all screamed in unison.

A second later, a dark tentacle wrapped around Jack, powerfully dragging him backward. How?! It was already sealed and banished!!!?!

But then he saw the glyphs…they had suddenly stopped glowing. The god had run out of power at the worst possible timing!!!

~ And this is what you get for underestimating me!

The creature's gloating tone was the last thing Jack heard before being engulfed by the darkness….